DALLAS & LOS ANGELES - Nov. 16, 2017 - EntSun -- As the utilization of healthcare travel professionals steadily continues to climb, the number of staffing firms entering the market to offer their services grows in tandem. It's important to know what to look for in a reputable agency partner, beyond just the face value of any candidate they've presented to you.

Liability Insurance

Unlike their full-time counterparts whose liability coverage is supplied by the hospital, clinic, or practice at which they work; it's the responsibility of the staffing agency to properly insure the travelers on assignment at your medical facility.

Is the employer of the traveler who just joined your team for the next 13 weeks as equally concerned with the issue of liability as your own organization? If not, that firm does not deserve the opportunity to provide a traveler that has access to the patients in your community. An inadequate level of insurance coverage leaves your facility open to the possibility of legal action against you in the event of malpractice.

Your chosen staffing agency should have Professional Liability Insurance, equal to what our industry's most respected healthcare facilities already have in place to protect their full-time providers.

Professional Liability Insurance allows each traveler to focus on the job at hand, without having to worry about adding their own additional coverage to compensate for the shortfall of a staffing firm who has cut corners with a less than adequate policy.

Workers Compensation

Another telltale sign of a reputable agency is their ability to understand the complexity of worker's compensation requirements specific to each state.

Every state sets their own worker's compensation law to act as insurance protection provided to workers who are injured while on job regardless of fault. Failure to properly understand the benefits and benefit levels that differ by state increases the possibility of litigation in the event of personal injury.

Funding

In addition to insurance and worker's compensation, focus on the funding mechanism of a staffing agency as well. It sounds like a 'given,' a core ability you would expect from any reputable staffing agency; however, there are firms in our marketplace who fail to operate with a foundation of financial stability.

What's their track record? Do they consistently support payroll for their travelers?

Reputable healthcare staffing firms should have enough funding to pay their temporary employees up front each week and carry their accounts receivable for at least up to thirty days. Therefore, a respected firm should be able to front four weeks of payroll before receiving reimbursement from any medical facility.

We've recently expanded the scope of Ironside's staffing services by offering allied healthcare travelers and travel nurses. Travel healthcare professionals are available for assignments of 13 weeks or more. Medical facilities of all sizes are steadily increasing their use of temporary providers in their overall staffing mix. This may include extended coverage during peak times of patient demand, or as a supplemental resource during the recruitment process in search of their next full-time provider.

As stated above, we know from our extensive prior experience in this sector how important it is to have the proper funding and support personnel in place to truly be effective. With those resources established, we're very excited to compliment our permanent placement business with healthcare travelers.

Please contact us today toll free at (844) 499-8399 to begin the process.